Tuesday, September 23, 2008

What I Call Mountain Biking

I had a neat surprise last week...I woke up one morning and felt fully rested. The Ironman fatigue was completely gone and I felt like my old self again. YAY!!

I've started swimming again and have been mountain biking up this monster set of hills right behind my house. My love/hat relationship with my mountain bike's clipless pedals has somewhat dissipated; however, the fear lingers on. The fear of what you ask? The fear of tipping over and not being able to unclip in time. I HATE THIS!!!

There is one section of the steady climb that has a particularly steep pitch. The dirt road is also very rough here -- very rocky and streams of gravel. It is all I can do to keep my bike pointed in a straight line going up the hill -- you have to pick your path oh so carefully and then pedal your butt off. If I slow down even for a minute, it's like trying to balance on a stopped bike in the middle of a hill. I've discovered that I can't be in too easy a gear or else I'll be going too slow up the hill, and risk falling and getting my legs chewed up.

I also learned a new trick from Charmaine. When going down a really steep road, you stand up, squeeze the seat with your inner thighs, and hang your bum over the rear tire. It really stabilizes you! She had me practice this first on a flat portion of road. I would stand up and lean toward my handlebars, then contrast that feeling with leaning backwards. What a difference!

Leaning towards the front makes you very unstable -- the bike wants to veer all over the place. So, after I reached the top of my "hill," I tested this out, and it worked!! Hee-hee!

I am still not at all comfortable biking on single track, hilly, rooty, and rocky trails. I might drive you mountain bike purists crazy, but if I am biking on a road or trail where I can't ride my road bike -- that is mountain biking to me! :) :)

The real fear stems from the fact I can't unclip as easily as from my road bike. There is no worse feeling than trying to unclip, and your foot is LOCKED in tight. I just about have a panic attack, and whip my ankle so hard to get me out.

I'm learning. I'm getting better, and I am stubborn! :) :) :)

Yesterday was also Day 1 Kelly's Core Bootcamp. Heh-heh-heh! I started off with high hopes...3 sets of 25 for EVERYTHING! I did manage that lofty goal for the first few workouts, but then I quickly degenerated into a shaking mass of tired muscle and did 3 sets of 12 for the rest.

I improved my push up count from last week! I did 3 sets of 10 instead of 3 sets of 8 so YIPPEEE for me!! HAhahahaahah! Look out chin up bar... you are so mine this year!!!!!!!

Yesterday morning also saw the fruition of a plan Charmaine and I had hatched a while back. I had purchased matching swim caps at the IMC expo -- pink camo caps with eyes and a open shark-toothed mouth on the front. To top it all off, there is an actual pink fin sticking up from the cap, so that when you are swimming, the eyes, mouth, and fin look hilarious -- a lane shark!! Hahahahahah!! Well, we did our workouts and then played around with fins to achieve the best "look." We finally got it right. With one arm extended in front to swim, the other extended to the back held up a swim fin. Then, we waited for the senior water aerobics to start...

DA DUM, DA DUM, DA DUM.

We lurked at the far end of the pool, in our lane and waited until the last person entered the pool. Then we waited until all the water aerobic people shifted to the front of the pool and started to walk backwards. With a mutual nod, we dove under the lane ropes and began our attack...

We swam in and around all the guys and gals. One time when I went to breathe I heard the aerobic instructor say, "Watch out for the sharks!" HAHAHAHAHAHA!! You could see, some of these guys didn't know what to think! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! AWESOME!!!

Let 'er rip! Time to get back into training!! YEEEHHHAAAAWWWWWWW!!!! :) :) :) :)